World as Will & Idea (Everyman's Library (Paper)) [ABRIDGED] (Paperback)

by Arthur Schopenhauer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The World as Will and Idea (1819) holds that all nature, including man, is the expression of an insatiable will to life; that the truest understanding of the world comes through art, and the only lasting good through ascetic renunciation. Unique in western philosophy for his affinity with Eastern thought, Schopenhauer influenced philosophers, writers, and composers including Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Wagner, Tolstoy, Thomas Mann, and Samuel Beckett.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Paperbacks; Abridged edition (May 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0460875051
• ISBN-13: 978-0460875059
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #165,009 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the futility of willing, May 22, 2000

By	john cahir (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

For someone with no formal instruction in philosophy this is a very good book to begin with. Schopenhauer avoids the use of pretensious "philosophical" jargon and writes in a predominantly literary fashion.

The main value in this book is its ideas. Its basic premis is simple, yet the range of topics that Schopenhauer delivers treatises on is quite astounding - art, gambling, contract theory, sexual love and ascetic renunciation, to mention but a few. Only a man of his genius could have found a thread to link these diverse topics together. One does, however, sense at times that he distorts his philospophical beliefs in order to express his revulsion about his least favourite types of human activity.

I found the discussions on art the most insightful and rewarding. The book is a good dissection of the blind striving and willing of our world and has the potential to alter the way you view the nature of things.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a bridge between Kant and Nietzsche, May 8, 2005

By	Anton Hart "Mr Hart" (London) - See all my reviews

Often Schopenhauer does not receive the same respect as other German philosophers such as Kant, Hegel and the now incredibly popular Nietzsche.

Admittedly he is neither as difficult as Kant, nor as easy to read as Nietzsche. His style is not as charming as Nietzsche's and not as complex as Kant's.
He remains however one of the most influential philosopher's of modern times, who influenced people as widely as Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Wagner, Thomas Mann and Sigmund Freud.
Most notably, Nietzsche has taken much of his ideas from Schopenhauer, partially the 'will to power' can be retraced back to him, though it has to be said that Nietzsche drew different conclusions from similar thoughts.
His philosophy was grounded firmly in Plato's ideas, however he wrote very much in support of the new world Kant had opened up for philosophy with his idealism, which he however critiques in "The World as Will and Representation", too.

Schopenhauer is often referred to as the ultimate pessimist, both being atheist and thinking that since will which can never be utterly fulfilled, will lead to endless suffering, being frustrated as soon as it gains actual target by just creating a new hurdle/ something to gain. As such, he thinks that the will/ desire will inevitable always lead to suffering.
Schopenhauer sees in what he describes 'the denial of the will to live' in asceticism the answer. The only escape Schopenhauer sees is within art, more precisely within music, which has lead in the 20th century to people like Adorno and Horkheimer, and the Frankfurt school to adapt many of his thoughts.

In my opinion Schopenhauer's World as Will and Representation is an 'attainable' book, even for people who have given up on Kant, Hegel or Heidegger. Not being a philosophy student myself, I first had to get a certain knowledge of Kant in order to fully understand it. I cannot critique the translation, simply because I have only read the book in German.
Schopenhauer's style is not only digestible, but being written in prose, it's even partially humorous, mostly witty and almost completely free of complex philosophical jargon.
I count this book amongst the best I have ever read, and can only recommend it to anyone. I don't even find it very pessimistic, rather romantically- realistic.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Schopenhauer's great work abridged, September 30, 2005

By	Dr. Robert H. Woog (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a really excellent and readable version of Schopenhauer's seminal work. Any abridgements are very judiciously made, so that none of the essential ideas are left out. The introduction is excellent, and the translation very coherent and easy to follow. It is one of the most engrossing of philosphical primary texts, much easier to understand than Kant, and the presentation and translation are excellent. Anyone with an interest in philosophy, especially in the period of 19th Century philosophy from Kant to Nietzche, will find it indispensable.